Stryker's Revenge
by Starsinger
Summary: Stryker hates Kitty for thwarting his plans to kill all mutants. When she falls to an assasin's knife, he sees a prime opportunity to set her up as an example of Mutant's vulnerability. This is a sequel to "Darkness". Meetings and fogs
1. Tragedy

Friends of Humanity

by Starsinger

Kitty helped thwart Reverend Stryker's campaign against mutants. He swore revenge. When she falls to an assassin's knife, he swears to capture her body and use it as an example to his followers. This is a sequel to "Darkness before the Dawn," so obviously his plans go awry. No, still don't own them.

"She's dead?!" asked the heavyset man behind the desk. "Are you sure?"

The agent stood before him with a smirk on his face. The sumptuous office of rich carpets, cherry wood furniture, and heady colors told this man's story far better than his bitterness against this one woman. "We've been monitoring reports around the mansion. She 'sacrificed' her life to save those suffering from the Legacy Virus moments ago."

A grim smile crossed the other man's face, "Anyway we can get our hands on her body?"

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Kitty's body lay where she'd died. A computer chip placed on the back of her neck kept her breathing and heart beating until everything was ready. The only downside came from the thermal blanket wrapped around her. Moira could almost believe she was still alive if it weren't for that. The Shi'arian told her that they could keep her "alive" but couldn't keep her body temperature up.

Several of those who'd been critically ill in the infirmary were paying their respects, but most of the inhabitants of the mansion had joined Logan in a forced march around Breakstone Lake. The monitors around Kitty had been turned off and she had been disconnected from all the tubes and everything that had kept her alive.

Moira was bending over the bed when she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth, "Move, and I'll kill you," a voice whispered into her ear. Moira went limp as several men walked into the room. The man holding her handed her over to another and peered down at the woman in front of her. "So, it's true, she's dead." He reached down and picked her up, her unresisting body limp in his arms. It was everything Moira could do to keep from moving. As much as she feared for her life, she didn't want her friend's body defiled by these men. They threw her to the floor and before she could turn around they left, taking Kitty's body with them. Moira hit the alarm.

Peter and Emma ran full tilt into the infirmary having never left the school and discovered the scene. Both turned white when Moira informed them what happened. Emma immediately broadcast the incident to everyone within reach. Peter picked up the blanket that the men had so carelessly left behind. "We have to find her," he whispered striding out of the infirmary.

Emma shook her head, "I can't find Kitty because she's dead."

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Logan received the news with some grim glee. He was itching for a fight, and the Friends of Humanity had just given him an excuse. Kurt had disappeared in a puff of smoke to fetch the blanket so they could wrap her up as soon as they found her. He sniffed the air; Kitty's scent would still be distinctive. Peter soon joined him as he wove his way through the woods near the lake. They soon located them.

"She's growing cold. How can she be dead? She's still breathing!" one said, panicking slightly.

Stryker snorted, "Alien technology." He bent down and examined her. Logan rage built as the man's hands roamed over her body. "Sleeping Beauty, I'll put her on a pedestal and call her Sleeping Beauty. Set her up as an example of the fact that mutants can be killed."

One of the men looked nervously around, "What about this disease she died of? Could we catch it?" The question was punctuated by the sound of Kitty coughing. They all stared horrified of the sound. Logan grinned, seeing an opening.

Before he could move though her captors scrambled back as everyone saw a ghost. Kitty stood before them, "Why are you doing this? I have brought you no harm."

Stryker looked at the ghost with contempt, "You ruined me, bitch. You're going to pay, dead or alive."

"So you would sentence millions to death from this disease. The X-Men will not let you go easily." Wolverine chose that moment to attack. It was short and brutal as none of the men stood a chance. Stryker chose that moment to turn tail and run. Kurt bent down and gently wrapped Kitty's stiffening body in the blanket. Fortunately the chip still worked. Kitty's image knelt down next to Kurt, staring at them.

"Katya?" came the strangled question.

Kitty smiled at the large man before Emma's voice sounded in their heads, "Get her back to the mansion. The technicians don't want to take any more chances." When they looked up Kitty's ghost was gone. Kurt disappeared with her body in a puff of smoke.

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Logan sighed with relief as the technicians finally left with the stasis tube in tow. Logan knew that they hadn't seen the last of Stryker. If the man hated that much, Kitty's life would not be safe if she returned from the dead. He shook his head. Stryker was just another piece of the puzzle to add to a long list. Mystique needed to be foremost on his list.

What's going on with Stryker? He never liked Kitty, the fact that she's a mutant never helped. Will he try to take advantage of her amnesia? Probably, stay tuned to find out.


	2. Revival

Revival

by Starsinger

Kitty comes back to life, and Stryker is frustrated. No, still don't own them.

Peter stopped in the grove where he'd last seen Kitty's ghost the morning before he left with Theresa for Chicago a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Katya, are you here?" he asked of the empty grove. The sound of birds and small animals greeted his ears. "No, I guess not," he laid the bouquet on the ground where they'd found her.

"Missing her too, Petey?" Logan's voice made him jump out of his skin.

"Da, Logan, I can't believe she's gone. They both stared around them. "She's beyond his reach, now. He can't take her."

"I know, but that doesn't mean he won't try," Logan said, a feral glint in his eye. "I'm looking forward to his finding an empty grave."

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"What do you mean that's just a memorial? That there's no body in that grave?" Stryker asked. He didn't like what he was hearing one bit.

The poor unfortunate standing in front of him looked at the carpet. "We did what we could, we even used ultrasound, but she's not buried there on the school grounds."

"Then, where is she?" his teeth ground together. After they had fled Xavier's Stryker and his men had been terrified of what had killed her. When the first of his men began coughing the rest became even more frightened. Stryker had barely escaped with his own life as they all turned on each other. Ironic thing was, when Stryker began coughing himself, it had turned out to be the flu. He shook his head, she had a lot to answer for.

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They pulled her body out of stasis for what seemed like the millionth time that year. The ward they placed her in was where the very sick were quarantined. They made sure the chip was functioning again and they injected her with yet another formula that they hoped would cure it. Then, they left. The machines would monitor any reactions her body produced.

What they didn't expect was what happened when they came back hours later. Everyone in the ward was waking up and asking for food. Kitty had rolled over, covered herself with a blanket, and when awakened, became very grumpy. The final straw came when they found the chip used to keep her body functioning, had come loose and was on the floor. They sighed with relief, the nightmare was finally over.

They ran many tests over the next few weeks and at Moira's suggestion kept her in a coma for a few more days. They were surprised when her biggest frustration came, not from her weakness, but from the holes in her memory. When shown pictures of her family and friends she only remembered Moira at first. That gradually changed as she became stronger. The one constant in all of this was Lockheed. His rehabilitation was almost a slow. Walking for him became easier over time, but flying was an almost impossible task as his wings couldn't quite support him, the muscles having become as weak as Kitty's legs. He had taken to a kind of hopping gait along the ground.

Physical therapy was tough. Many of those who suffered from the disease cured by Kitty's immune system hadn't spent nearly a year of inactivity in a tube. That's not to say that she was frustrated by needing help getting in and out of bed and the chair, but she knew that strength would return with time. At least that's what Kay'lia, her physical therapist, kept telling her. Every morning she looked at the pictures and tried to jog her memory. At the end of three months she was able to recognize Scott, Jean, Logan, her mom, and Moira. Someone also thought it would be fun for her to learn how navigate around the universe.

The morning that Moira, Scott, Jean, Xavier, Logan and her Mom came was the first time she got up and attempted to get up and walk. It was the hardest thing she could remember trying. She collapsed back into the chair while Kay'lia knelt in front of her encouraging her. She nodded. She knew it would get easier with time. She took a deep breath as she pulled herself into the chair Lilandra had provided for her. She knew she should recognize the older woman, but she shook her head. Then she saw Moira and smiled. Sitting on the edge of the motorized chair she couldn't help but feel warmth around the woman.

Even so when she remembered Brian and Meggan it came as a shock to realize that they'd named the baby after her. When she met back up with her friends Lockheed had taken off with Agent Brand. They needed to iron out some details, and the less she knew the better. She sighed, at least they were both keeping busy. She leaned back in her chair and watched the sunset, absorbing everything, including Jean's pregnancy. This was going to be very interesting.

The doctors had no sense of humor, Kitty decided the next day. They squashed the wheelchair races she and Xavier had gotten into. She won, of course, she had the newer chair. He'd muttered something about talking to Lilandra about a new chair. She'd woken up in the middle of the night with nightmares. A large man haunted her dreams; the man hated her and she didn't know why. At least she didn't remember why. She'd met with families of those she'd saved. She couldn't even remember how she'd saved them, just what she'd been told.

Then they sent her on a two week cruise to certify her as an astronavigator. Lockheed was still working with SWORD and unable to accompany her, but she didn't feel so lonely when she realized that five other people were scooting around the ship in the chairs as well. Unlike them, however, she started using crutches to get around. She still felt weak as a kitten, but at least she was starting to get around under her own power. Then word came down the pike, she was going home.


	3. Going Home

Going Home

by Starsinger

Kitty returns home. No, still don't own them.

Kitty struggled into her clothes. Jean had brought over some clothes of hers they had put in storage and she was putting them on. It wasn't that she'd grown fat and lazy over sitting in the chair for so long, just the opposite in fact. She now weighed ninety pounds sopping wet. Moira planned to get her on a strict diet when she got home starting with cupcakes. Kitty thought she was joking when she said that. Kitty lay on the bed and pushed her hips up with her feet. Her shaky legs were strong enough to allow her to pull them up from there. She buttoned them up and faced the daunting task of getting out of bed and into the chair that someone had so thoughtfully put across the room to power up over night. Fortunately, the crutches were within reach.

Kitty was understandably nervous about going home. With a memory full of holes, she wasn't sure what would happen. Scott and Xavier both assured her that she had a place at Xavier's and always would. She was injured doing her job after all. Everyone at the rehab center came out to see her off. Jean got her settled in the back of the plane as they took off. This was superseded by Lilandra's ardent good-bye to Xavier that caused everyone to be looking everywhere but at the couple. Logan's comment was, "Get a room."

They touched down at an estate she barely remembered. She saw people she should know. Well, most of them anyway. Rabbi Katz, and Daniel and Cassie Wyzchenko were kind enough to introduce themselves. She liked them immediately. The shock came when Rogue announced that she was being set up with every man, single or not, on a date.

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Something just wasn't right. It was driving her crazy. Something in the hum of the machinery drove her out of bed at 3 am. The few students and teachers up and about at that time of the morning gave her strange looks as she maneuvered her chair into the elevator and down to Cerebro. There she found it and there was where Logan found her four hours later. Rogue had all ready brought her breakfast and she was admittedly up to her elbows in grease. Kurt guiltily admitted that he'd tried to fix Cerebro while she was gone.

Kitty ended up shaking her head in disgust before she went back to work. When Moira and her mother caught up with her she was sitting at Xavier's desk in his library going through the security systems. Everyone had laughed when he had been summarily ejected from his own office so she could do her job. "Done," Moira heard her mutter as she hit a button and leaned back in her chair. Kitty smiled at the two women, "I know what you're about to say, I can see it in your hands." She commented, pointing at the lunch tray Terri was carrying. Moira grinned as Kitty dug into her meal. She ate every scrap as per instructions. When she left the library she found her way outside. She found herself in real need of fresh air and couldn't help but feel that she was being watched.

Kitty jumped as the door to the mansion opened and Piotr exited with two glasses of lemonade in his hands.

Kitty sipped it appreciatively as she noticed the wedding band on Peter's hand, "You're married too?"

"Da," he admitted. "She…died over a year ago." He put it as delicately as he could. Moira and the rest had told them to be sensitive to her moods.

"Ah, so you'll be one of the actual 'single' men Rogue'll be setting me up with," she said with a sad smile.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," he absently reached down and scooped up Lockheed who had somehow been forgotten in Kitty's mansion wanderings. Lockheed immediately curled up in his lap as Peter stroked the sensitive places behind the dragon's eye ridges and wings.

"Poor baby," she crooned. "He's looking forward to being able to fly again." She looked across the lawn and could have sworn she saw a man wearing a suit. A momentary distraction, and he was gone.

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Kitty sat at the window staring out into the dark night. It had been a momentous week, and she was glad that she could finally remember Peter. They assumed everything was back, but it wasn't; there were still holes. Two days before Pete and Callie's wedding she could finally relax. She heard giggling from the other room. She shook her head wondering what Lucia and Lockheed had gotten up to. Lockheed had taken immediately to the little girl. Kitty walked into Lucia's room and the two of them were curled up together. Lockheed was giving her long wet kisses sending her into paroxysms of laughter.

Kitty maneuvered her way onto the bed and looked fondly down at the pair. Peter needed the family connection that she represented as much as she needed him. "Go to sleep, Lucia. I know you're excited, but you have school tomorrow."

Lucia pouted before being caught up in a big yawn. "Cousin Kitty, who are those strange men in black suits?"

"What men?" Kitty asked alarmed.

"The men outside my window last night," she replied. Kitty got up and struggled to the window. She found no one there, but she felt concerned enough to send out a mental alarm as her hand automatically went to her abdomen. She had two lives to be concerned about.

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Logan paced the Professor's office, Cassie had taken charge of Lucia while they held this meeting. "I don't understand, Professor. Is there anyone who would have fixated on me?" Kitty asked.

Logan smiled, "Stryker."

Kitty shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't recognize the name." She heard Peter sigh as he tightened his hand on hers. "What's going on? Should I be concerned?"

"No, Punkin, just don't leave the mansion alone, okay?" Logan asked, begging for reassurance. She nodded and left. Logan's fists hit Xavier's desk, "That didn't help her last time, did it?" he asked furiously. "He deliberately defiled her body and now he's back."

"We don't know that it was him," Xavier responded.

"Who else would it be…"

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"So, she's not dead."

"No, she's quite alive. We can't let him get his hands on her. We need her, them."

"Two ancients souls have finally returned. Powerful in their own rights in their own times, they are now united."

"That's not all, she's expecting a son."

Powerful laughter erupted and permeated the room. It sent threads of fear into all who could hear.

A/N: Thought of a third story in this series, that's all.


	4. Fallen Pryde

**Fallen Pryde**

by Starsinger

**Sorry this chapter has taken so long, but it's back. Stryker still hates them. No, still don't own them.**

Kitty struggled out of a bad dream. She didn't know where she was, and had been taken by men she didn't recognize, but should. It was the big man again. The good news was, as she got up from bed and went to the bathroom, that she had graduated from those darned crutches to a cane. After the obligatory stop at the bathroom, the baby was playing with her bladder again, she looked in on Lucia and Lockheed.

Logan was one of the few people who understood her frustration. Weapon X had robbed him of his identity as well, and like her, he'd volunteered for the procedure that put those holes in his memories. Kitty sighed and went downstairs to get a glass of water. Lockheed joined her, he had also graduated to flying. It was in short hops, but he was finally back in the air. Kitty hadn't honestly understood how bound together they were until they woke up. She found Jean and Rachael there as Jean warmed up a bottle. Jean smiled, "She wouldn't go back to sleep, so I thought it would be easier to walk with her. So, we ended up here." Kitty smiled. Everything seemed so normal.

Ororo looked up, she had crackers in front of her. At Kitty's raised eyebrow she admitted, "Yeah, I think it's in the water too. I'm pregnant as well."

Kitty opted for milk instead of water, "Ororo, who's the father?"

Kitty watched in amazement as Storm's head landed on her folded arms. "Logan," was the muffled reply.

As both Kitty and Jean tried to digest this information another voice joined in the fray, "Mom, um, how do you feel about becoming a grandmother?"

Before Jean could answer that question, the door banged open as Scott entered with their other child, Anthony. "Excuse me? Should I be talking to Elf about a shotgun wedding?!"

Kitty watched as Rachael's head hung guiltily, Scott handed Tanya off to Kitty as he confronted his grown daughter. The silence was deafening as there appeared to be an intense two way conversation that Jean joined in when she handed Rachael off to Ororo. Kitty motioned with her chin to Ororo and the two women quietly slipped out the door. "You know, every time I think **my** family tree is complicated, I just look at Scott's."

Ororo laughed, "With two grown children and two babies, one of which is his grown daughter, yeah, it's complicated!"

They wandered into the rec room and flipped on the television only to find the leading story offensive. "The top story today is the call from Reverend Stryker for the sterilization of Mutants. In spite of the President's support of those who saved his life, the Friends of Humanity appear to be putting pressure on Capitol Hill…"

"Eugenics, that was tried once here in the US. It didn't work then, what in the world makes them think it will work now?" Kitty muttered.

"Fanatics," Ororo muttered. Both women nodded in agreement.

"Do you think Scott will be able to make them go through with it? Rachael isn't exactly his daughter," Kitty asked into the dark silence, interrupted only by the flickering images on the television screen.

Ororo looked down at Rachael, the tiny girl sleeping so trustingly in her arms, "I don't know." She caressed the soft cheek and downy red hair at the girl's crown, "Jean will think of something."

Kitty looked down at Anthony, he was the spitting image of his father. Alex had even commented that he had Scott's eyes, before the accident. Kitty changed the subject, "Did you know the Zimmer Brothers got their ideas for movies like "Airplane" from watching old movies late at night?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, apparently they leave their old 35 mm camera recording their television late at night and couldn't believe how the actors could play all the lines straight. That's why he got all the actors in those movies to be serious when saying funny lines."

"Don't call me surely," they shared a tight grin as Rachael, Jean and Scott finally emerged from the kitchen. Ororo and Kitty handed off the twins and silently went back to bed. Kitty looked in on Lucia one last time before joining Peter in bed. Peter woke slightly as she snuggled up to his back. He carefully rolled over so she could have a better angle to snuggle. She curled up with a contented sigh as he wrapped an arm around her, and he felt the baby kick him in the ribs. Many miles to the south, Emma Frost awoke with the same dream that haunted Kitty.

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The next morning Peter awoke to what had become normal for a Saturday Morning, his entire family in bed with him. He was sandwiched between his young cousin and his wife. Lockheed draped over his neck. Lucia was a precocious seven year old, but she only crawled into bed with them on Saturday mornings. He gently shook the little girl awake. She reminded him of her mother with her black hair and bright blue eyes that blinked sleepily up at him, "Good morning, Piotr."

"Good morning, Lucia, why don't you go watch cartoons and I'll make breakfast," he murmured.

"Okay!" she said with a smile, then bounced out of the bed, taking Lockheed with her. He felt Kitty stir beside him.

"Cartoons, huh, must be Saturday," she mumbled as she pushed herself out of bed. He admired her stately waddle toward the bathroom as he got out of bed and headed for the small kitchen in the suite. Lucia had acquired a taste for blueberry pancakes, that happened to coincide with some of Kitty's cravings. She'd been lucky, she hadn't suffered from morning sickness and the only reason they had suspected the pregnancy was she had started eating a lot more. That and she'd been having cravings that didn't gel with her vegetarian lifestyle.

"I suspect that your son was conceived that night at the White House," Hank said with a grin. "President Kelly should get a good laugh out of that."

President Kelly had ruefully sent his congratulations when he heard the news, along with a note, "Don't forget my part when he's born!"

When Kitty emerged from their bedroom, she was fully dressed and ready to go, "Still going to the mall?" he asked. He wasn't particularly worried, Rachael and Jean were going with her. Emma Frost was meeting up with them, if three telepaths, two of whom were telekinetic, couldn't take care of each other, the X-Men were in trouble.

"Yep, and we're taking the scooter, too, Peter. Xavier is taking Lucia to the park this afternoon as well, so you should find plenty of time to grade papers." He grinned ruefully at her as he put breakfast down on the table. Lucia bounced into her booster seat and dug into her pancakes. She liberally dosed them with maple syrup and butter which caused a bit of a mess which Lockheed gladly helped her clean. Peter didn't know what she was doing more, eating or giggling. Later Peter kissed his wife as she left to join the others for their trip to New York City.

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Emma Frost was normally a very organized person, but everything that morning seemed to be fuzzy. It was almost as if she was swimming through a fog inside her brain. She missed Sean's knock on the door three times until he opened the door and called through the door to ask if she was all right. She nearly snapped at him before she pulled herself together. "I'm fine," she replied through gritted teeth, as she pulled a brush through her hair and put another one to her teeth. She pulled on a white business suit and gloves wondering if she was getting a cold. She grabbed her briefcase before heading for the limo she'd hired for her trip to the airport.

As she met up with Kitty et al. she asked them if they were feeling off. "No more than usual," Jean replied. "Since the babies, I've felt like I've been swimming in a fog. Lack of sleep, I think."

Rachael shook her head mumbling something about pregnancy hormones. Kitty smiled, saying that she was still coming out of a fog. Emma grumbled irritably, she hadn't been with a man in, okay, she couldn't remember the last time… She shook her head and tried to focus on the task at hand. "The Adventures of the Dread Pirate Fuzzy Elf"* was Kitty's current project, and promised humor as she had cast Logan in the roll of "Cabin Boy." Her publisher, Travis Ames, met them for lunch waxed enthusiastic about her current project. They never knew they were being watched.

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"This is the first time they've let her out," the blonde man noted.

"Well, we'll have to be careful. Stryker wants her alive, the others are expendable."

"We're not supposed to strike now. We were told to observe and report back."

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"You know, I think they believe that they're actually important," a woman said to her male companion.

He grinned back, "People like them always do, has to do with their Master. We know better."

"Yes, we do, but how does **he** propose that we get the four of them away from **them**."

"He said patience and time. We may have to take the Emperor first." They both nodded as they left the street, as long as their targets weren't actually hurt, the pompous one could play his little games.

***Denotes current project involving the Danger Room and the Twins', yes Ilyana and Moira, fifth birthday present with a whole cast of assorted characters.**

**No, Emma is not pregnant, and there is no way Stryker could be producing the fog in her brain, but it will make Sean and the rest of the cast at the Massachusetts Academy's life a little miserable.**


End file.
